Living & Writing in Uncertain Times – Barbara Clarke

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Book: Getting to Home

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Why would Barbara Clarke move nearly forty times in her lifetime (If you do the math, that’s packing and unpacking every 2.7 years.) What’s wrong with her? Doesn’t she covet the American Dream? Why would she finally build a house after all that conscious wandering? Why in the Pacific Northwest?

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Getting to Home: Sojourn in a Perfect House explains this and more in her new memoir – an account of constructing a house and reconstructing who she is. While learning the ropes as a novice homebuilder (with a contractor and architect) her all-male construction orchestra taught her a lesson or two about houses and life. Getting to Home combines her sense of humor with her thoughtful analysis of complex issues.

Aside from refining the art of setting up a new household, Barbara is the mother of two daughters, and works as a grant and freelance writer. She has written extensively for corporate clients, trade magazines, and newspapers on the topics of health and wellness, hometown concerns, and the growing need of affordable housing.

Barbara is known for never staying anywhere for very long, and for doing things that she’s never done before. She went to Kenya to work on a master’s degree; to a farm in Missouri, after dropping out of corporate America, in order to develop as a writer; and straight from the farm to New York City to work as an intern at WigWag magazine. She’s been to Cuba to see what a community-based universal healthcare system looks like; and fled a career in managed care when skyboxes and raising rates became the subjects du jour in the executive meetings.

In 1999, Barbara succumbed to the allure of the Pacific Northwest and now makes her home on Bainbridge Island. She hopes to live there for a very long time – with a few more adventures thrown in to keep life interesting.

What Readers are Saying

“Barbara Clarke brings the universal dreams, joys and conflicts of building a house into a singular, beautifully narrated focus that will resonate with anyone who hopes to build a home, buy a home, or turn a rented room into their own personal sanctuary. An eternally timely and absorbing story, Getting to Home illuminates both how we define home, and how our homes help to define who we are.”
– Carol Cassella, author of Healer and Oxygen

“It’s beautifully written — one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Very forthright, insightful, humorous, with a great deal of emotional depth” B

“Wow. It was a thrill and an honor to receive your book in the mail a couple of days ago. Really, it was the best package I’ve received since… well… possibly ever! I was struck by the beauty…the wonderful cover and elegant internal design. It all seems perfect, and it all goes together, along with the tone and content of the book, perfectly. I’m very drawn in to the book, and that doesn’t happen easily!” B

“Finished your book. Fabulous. It gave me a chance to know you better.” C

“I LOVE YOUR BOOK! So honest. Beautifully written too. Bravo! Here are my favorite parts: You at the bank getting the loan, the loan officer. How you can paint a character with a few strokes. Wow. How you fret and how funny you are about your fretting. Bonnie and Cara’s first visit. Every inch of this account was heart-felt and came through achingly well. How did you DO that? In other words, DAMN good throughout. Held my interest both as your friend, but also as a woman watching a woman learn hard lessons and MAKE IT.” J

“Loved it! Every woman will relate to your personal struggle to be heard. And – don’t panic, but spiders have 8 legs – yours had 6 – you can fix that in the next printing. I hope you saved the ‘killing shoe’ though and will sell it on ebay someday.” C